Jasmine Jean-Baptiste (Miami Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation Center).
In Florida, a mother is accused of subjecting her son and a 65-year-old man, who had offered them a place to stay, to horrific torture and abuse. The alleged abuse includes forcing her child to sit in a squat position for extended periods and assaulting the man with different objects, such as a knife and a sharpening tool.
“She is f—ing strong,” the man allegedly told investigators after being questioned about the abuse, according to Miami ABC affiliate WPLG.
Jasmine Jean-Baptiste, 31, is charged with savagely beating the elderly man to the extent that he has lost vision in one eye. According to the Miami Shores Police Department, she is believed to have taken advantage of the man’s kindness towards her children to carry out the abuse, which was carried out in secrecy.
The police report details a witness account of consistent and severe abuse, which involved multiple incidents of battery over time. The victim also provided photographic evidence of injuries like bruises, contusions, and facial cuts that align with his descriptions of the abuse.
According to police, Jean-Baptiste allowed a man who is described as her 13-year-old son’s stepfather abuse the boy for years before the two of them wound up living on the street in a car. She was taken in by the 65-year-old victim nine years ago when her son was just a toddler, and she was allowed to live with him up until her arrest.
Police say Jean-Baptiste began abusing her son in the same ways his stepfather did when they lived together, including forcing him to do squats “for hours” when he was “bad in school” and refusing to “give him water” during the punishment sessions.
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A recent incident at the boy’s school, in which a coach heard her say “I am going to kill him” after an unspecified incident, led to an investigation by the Florida Department of Children and Families. The 65-year-old man told police he was “scared” of Jean-Baptiste and unable to defend himself.
“She will jump on me,” he allegedly told detectives, recalling an alleged incident in which Jean-Baptiste “sucker-punched” him and left him blind in one eye and another incident that saw her knock out one of his teeth, according to cops.
“I can’t hit her,” the man said. “You know, a male would be blamed for hitting a female.”
Jean-Baptiste’s son told authorities she was known to slap and hit him repeatedly with belt buckles and her hands, allegedly leaving a scar on one occasion.
“I’d rather you worry about the kids,” the 65-year-old told cops while being questioned.
Jean-Baptiste is facing charges of aggravated child abuse causing great bodily harm and aggravated abuse of an elderly or disabled adult. She’s being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
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